Axial Aluminum Upgrade Kit

Due to the bending issues I had with the lower rear plastic links on my Axial AX10 Scorpion, I upgraded to aluminum. I decided to purchase the entire aluminum upgrade/conversion kit for the Axial AX10. After using them for several weeks on a wide variety of terrain, I have the following to report:

Axial offers the upgrade kit in several different colors (black, grey, silver, orange, green, blue and red). This is a nice touch as it allows you to make your crawler a little more custom. The kit comes with everything needed to upgrade both the front and rear upper and lower links (the bars that connect the axles to the chassis), and to upgrade the steering link (a larger bar that connects the front two tires together and the smaller bar that connects the larger bar to the steering servo arm). The kit also comes with two aluminum bars that connect to the chassis in-between where the shocks mount on the chassis (I'm really not sure what these are for, but I assume it is to help strengthen the chassis). After researching websites, which include, but are not limited to, ckrccrawlers.com, axialracing.com, tcscrawlers.com, rcplanet.com, eBay, craigslist, and more, and after looking at my local hobby shops, I discovered that you can pick one of these upgrade kits up for about $40-$50.

Installing the links was a piece of cake. The owner's manual that came with the Axial RTR showed how to install these links, and it could be done by merely looking at the pictures. Plastic eyelets screwed onto the end of the aluminum bars and plastic bushings snapped inside the eyelets. The only problem I had with installing the links was that the rear links (the bent high-clearance rear lower links) could not be installed without rubbing significantly on the lower part of the rear shocks. I even went to my local hobby shop and looked at a pre-assembled Axial AX10 ARTR (almost ready to run) that already had the links installed and observed that those rear high-clearance links also rubbed against the shocks.

Driving my crawler after the installation was complete was great! My tires were turning better, my rear axle was not turning (due to the stock plastic lower links bending) and my crawler seemed to be a lot more precise. The only problem I had with my links was with the rear high-clearance links that were rubbing on the rear shocks. This would cause the links to twist so that the 30-degree bend went horizontally instead of vertically; the plastic eyelets were not strong enough to withstand the force of the shocks. This defeated the purpose of having high-clearance links. I am considering gluing the eyelets to the end of the links so that they cannot twist, thus keeping the 30-degree bend in the correct position.

One other problem I had was with the plastic steering servo arm, which comes in the spare parts when you purchase an Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR. After 10 minutes of driving, the arm stripped out. It had not stripped out when it had the plastic steering link because the link took some of the force when it bent. With an aluminum steering link, however, the servo arm takes all the force as the link does not bend. I had to run to the hobby shop and purchase a metal servo arm. One I had arm installed, there were no more problems.

Despite the problems with the high-clearance links and the plastic steering servo arm, I would recommend the Axial aluminum upgrade/conversion kit as one of the first upgrades for every crawler (be-it the weekend warrior or the serious competition crawler). It will make your crawling experience much more enjoyable.

Axial AX10 Scorpion

Okay, after weeks of trying to find out what I wanted to purchase as my first crawler, I decided to go with the Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR (Ready To Race). I have now been using it for nearly a month on an almost daily basis. I have tried to climb just about everything in site, including landscape stones, rocks, logs, wood, concrete, asphalt, bicycles, toys, stairs, tables, and much more; if it was in site, I tried to climb it. However, I have set up a nice rock track near my home (see the photos) and for the most part, this is where I have done most of my climbing. After extensive (sometimes brutal) climbing, this is my report:

The purchase:
I purchased my crawler from a local hobby shop. For the most part, those who helped me had a broad general knowledge of RC, but nobody (who was there at the time) had a specific knowledge of crawlers. This didn't help much as they were unable to answer specific questions regarding rock crawlers (most of my questions got answered by pestering those in Utah who introduced me to the sport). The Axial is packaged well. It comes in a nice looking green box with a large clear cellophane window to make viewing the crawler easy. The crawler, radio, owner’s manual, and spare parts all come securely packaged inside the box. It was nice not to have parts floating around inside the box. Although it is called an RTR, I still had to purchase a battery pack and a battery charger. I also had to supply 8 AA batteries for the radio. As I knew practically nothing about battery packs and chargers, I asked the hobby shop sales rep to hook me up with what he thought was best. I did tell him that I wanted to eventually purchase a Lipo battery pack and therefore needed a charger that would charge it (I still know very little about Lipo's, but someone in Utah told me that is what I eventually wanted to get). I ended up purchasing a Duratrax 7.2V DTX 3800 6-pack battery pack, which was much cheaper than a Lipo, and an Onyx 230 battery charger. I ended up spending approximately $295.00 for the crawler, $80.00 for the charger, $28.00 for the battery pack and $16.00 for the 8 AA Duracell batteries.

I walked out of the store excited and ready to start crawling. Of course I had to first explain to my wife that I had taken up another new sport and just spent over $400.00 on it; that was not going to be easy.

Getting it Home:
When I first got it home, I immediately placed the box on the living room floor and began to open it. My children gathered around and began ooing and ahhing over the pretty green truck.

I pulled the crawler out of the box, and removed the already painted green plastic body by pulling out 4 small cotter pins. I noticed that all of the wires on the crawler were neatly organized and zip-tied together. The antenna was also neatly wrapped and zip-tied. The steering servo, an Axial AS-2, was mounted on the front axle with plastic mounting brackets. The ESC (electronic speed control) was an Axial AE-1. It was dangling from its wires in the chassis just below the battery plate, which was mounted on top of the Axial chassis. I soon realized that it had come off the double sided tape located under the battery plate. I was able to re-stick the ESC to the tape, and I have not had any problems with it falling off. The receiver was an Axial AR-1 2 channel receiver. It too was mounted with two-sided tape on the bottom of the battery plate. The motor was an Axial 27T (27 turn) electric motor. The on/off switch was hanging in the middle of the chassis by its wires. I merely took a small piece of 2-sided foam tape (not included) and stuck it to the inside of the chassis.




One of the best parts of the Axial AX10 Scorpion, was the owner's manual. Because I am not only new to RC rock crawling, but also new to RC all together, I was somewhat nervous when it came to working on my crawler. However, I have never before seen such an amazingly detailed, yet easy, manual to follow. Each part had its own page, and each page showed an expanded view (a view of the part taken completely apart) of the part. This made it extremely easy for me to familiarize myself with not only the nomenclature of the crawler, but also with how the crawler was put together.




Before I even charged the battery, I did as the hobby shop sales rep suggested and changed the Axial differential gear set out with the Axial heavy duty differential locker (this metal locker came included in the spare parts). I also changed out the Axial pinion 48DP 20T for the Axial pinion 48DP 14T (this too came included in the spare parts). I was definitely not impressed going from a metal pinion (the 20T) to a plastic pinion (the 14T). However, I was impressed by how easy it was to make the changes.



The Drive:


Okay, now to the nitty-gritty. . . As mentioned before, in a month's period of time, I have driven the crawler on an almost daily basis. During that time, I have put the Axial RTR to the test by climbing terrain that went from easy to downright brutal. The test results are now in, and although the Axial AX10 Scorpion RTR did not receive a failing grade, I was not impressed with the results. Of course, I did not expect to get a competition crawler for a measly $400, but I certainly expected more than I got.



The first thing I noticed was how rigid the suspension was. Everyone knows that a large degree of articulation (the crawler's ability to twist) is what crawlers are known for; this is one of the most fascinating aspects of the crawler. However, even over the simplest of obstacles, I found the articulation on the Axial RTR sub-par, and my crawler was constantly rolling over. I later discovered that Axial had put the super firm springs on all 4 shocks. I also noticed that with a medium amount of articulation, the tires (both front and rear) rubbed against the crawler's body. This not only made a terrible sound, but also caused the body to get stuck in the tires' tread and made it difficult for it to climb (this is why you see in the photos that I am climbing without the body).


After about 3 weeks of crawling with the super firm springs, I switched to the Axial super soft springs. This made a huge difference. I did want to put the super soft springs on the front shocks and the medium springs on the rear, but the local hobby shop only carried super soft springs. In the photo above you can see that once the springs were switched, the Axial AX10 actually has absolutely amazing articulation.





The tires (Axial Rock Lizards) were also way too firm. This caused less-than-desirable traction on the rocks. I did, however, like the look of the tires and wheels. The tires have large tread and the wheels have a chrome appearance. I also liked the beadlock feature. I was able to easily remove the tires in order to place lead weights on the inside. I later removed the foam from the tires. This seemed to help a little with the traction, but still the tires did not seem "sticky" enough.



The battery pack was positioned at this highest point possible (the top of the chassis). So now I have the heaviest part of the crawler at the highest point...hmmm, not so well for obvious CG (center of gravity) issues. Granted, I am not sure where else you could put a 6-pack battery pack.




I did notice that the Axial body could take a tremendous beating. Because of the rigid suspension, high CG, and other issues, I was constantly rolling the crawler (of course I also partially attribute the roll-overs to my inexperience as an RC driver). However, other than a few scratches here and there, the body held up very well. I was quite suprised after a few tumbles that it didn't crack, tear or break.

The steering servo is exceptionally weak (maybe it is so it doesn't strip out the plastic servo arm). I was unable to get a full turn on my wheels on flat smooth ground let alone on the rocks. Not only was the servo not able to turn my wheels completely, but it was also unable to re-center the wheels completely when I let go of the steering wheel on the radio. This caused a constant annoying humming sound. Of course the thin plasic steering link didn't help matters any since it would just bend instead of turning the tires. The one redeeming value is that both the servo arm and sterring link took a beating and never broke.

As far as the 4 plastic links go (the four bars that connect the axles to the chassis), well I had to change those out almost immediately. Every time I took my crawler out to the rocks and tried to climb a steep incline, one of the rear links would bend. This caused my rear axle to turn and either take my crawler off the side of the rock or caused my crawler to roll.



The motor not only had a really cool design pained on it, but also seemed to perform very well. I always had plenty of power and produced enough torque to crawl.



The Axial AX10 locked transmission was also amazing. When purchasing my first crawler, I almost went with the Losi Comp crawler because it boasted worm gear (gears that produce more torque). However, I am not sure why I would need any more torque than what I have with the Axial. The Axial transmission is able to produce plenty of torque. It also sits very low in the chassis, which really helps with CG issues.


One of the best parts of the Axial RTR is the Axial slipper clutch. Axial includes this with the RTR (it is usually an upgrade). This clutch keeps the motor's and transmission's torque in check so that it doesn't ruin the crawler's drivetrain. Right out of the box, the clutch has worked flawlessly. I have not had to make any adjustments and it has always given me the perfect amount of torque.

The most frustrating part of the Axial RTR is the speed control. If there were a prize for the worst speed control on the face of the planet, this one would most certainly be in the running. It is absolutely unpredictable, which makes it terrible for rock crawling. I can be crawling along, when all of a sudden my crawler will lunge forward, or it will go, then stop, then go, then stop as if it is having some sort of seizure. At other times, I can be pushing the throttle on my radio, and receive no response from my crawler (the crawler will not go). I have changed and tested batteries, I have had other's try to crawl with it, and it is always the same. In other words, it is not a battery issue and it is not due to operator error.

Welcome to RC Rock Crawler Reviews

While on vacation in Utah in May 2009, I was introduced to the sport of RC rock crawling. Since that time I have been determined to not only purchase my own rock crawler, but also to crawl on a competitive level.

When I returned home, I immediately went to work researching rock crawlers and their various components. During my research, to my surprise, I located very few (if any) reviews on rock crawlers and their components. In fact, the only reviews I found were those located on the product's webpage, which of course is going to be bias and only post those reviews beneficial to the sale of that product. Because the reviews were slanted, they were not entirely beneficial in my quest to find a competitive crawler at a price I could afford (let's face it, everyone wants the best product at the cheapest price; that's the nature of competitive business). I still felt "lost" as to what I should buy; I had no idea what components I should put together in order to give me what I was looking for.

Because I am a "newbie" to the sport of rock crawling, I carry neither loyalties nor biases with any manufacturer or vendor. I also do not work for any hobby shop and therefore carry no affiliations that would predispose me to favor one product over another. In fact, my full time job is as a detective with a local police department, and I am trained in reporting things in an honest, fair, objective manner. That is what I will do on this blog-report honestly, fairly and objectively. I do this for several reasons: 1) I hope to get manufacturers and vendors to send me free stuff to review (I told you that I would be honest), 2) I enjoy writing, 3) I want to allow manufacturers and vendors to put their products to the test (if their product receives a good review from me, they can rest assured that they carry a good product), and 4) to give people a single location to find honest reviews in order to assist in their purchasing decisions. With that said, let's begin the reviews (please remember that the views on this site are nothing more than my opinon):